Water skis



Jan. 9, 1962 F. CLARK WATER SKIS Filed Jar 25,-1960 INENTOR 3,015,830WATER SKIS Frederick L. Clark, Canadian Research Development Foundation,1434 Queen St., West Toronto :3,

Ontario, Canada Filed Jan. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 4,443

3 Claims.

This invention relates to water skis and more particularly to water skisof buoyant type adapted to be used for both water walking and high speedskiing purposes.

Various types of buoyant water skis have previously been utilized, suchwater skis however on account of their considerable bulk creatinga-considerable drag on the water as the skier is pulled thereover,requiring comparatively powerful motors for towing. 7

Another disadvantage in the conventional types of water skis lies in thenecessity to provide adjustable footholds in order to fit suchfoot-holds to various sizes of feet.

It is an object of this invention to provide water skis of suflicientbuoyancy to completely support the weight of a skier.

It is another object of this invention to provide water skisparticularly adaptable to high speed skiing, in that they offer reducedfriction surface between ski and water as speed is increased.

It is a further object of this invention to provide water skis suppliedwith channels or grooves in the nether surface of the skis, adapted todraw in a flow of air beneath the skis, thereby providing a partial aircushion beneath the skis, between the skis and the surface of the water,giving the advantage of lower friction during high speed.

It is a further object of this invention to provide skis that throughlongitudinal grooving in the lower surface of the skis provides betterdirectional stability of the skis, and less danger of inadvertently sideslipping on the surface of the water during high speed towing.

It is another object of this invention to providewater skis containingautomatic flap means at the rear end of the skis, adapted to be usedduring water walking, such flaps on the two skis alternately creatingresistance against back slip, while the ski on the opposing foot isthrust forward through the water.

These and other objects and features of this invention will becomeapparent when taken in conjunction with the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of water skis embodying this invention,shown being utilized by a skier for water walking purposes.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a water ski shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the'water ski shown in FIG. 2 illustratingthe flap attachment utilized for water walking.

FIG. 4 is a reverse plan view of the water ski illustrated in FIG. 2showing one method of locating fluted channels or grooves therein.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the water ski shown in FIG. 3illustrating particularly the self-adjusting foothold.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the water ski shown in FIG. 3illustrating particularly a preferred configura forcement purposes, afoot well 5 being located within the upper surface of each water skisubstantially centrally and longitudinally of the top surface of eachwater ski 1 and 2, flexible se1f-adjusting shoes being located withineach well 5.

A collapsible flap 7, hingeably located substantially towards the rearend 8 of each water ski, is shown on water ski l1, flap 7 being limitedin its forward pivotable movement to a maximum angle of 90 degrees withthe longitudinal axis of water ski '1, flap 7 being adapted to bepivotably rotated backward to a horizontal position.

Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 a water ski embodying thisinvention is shown comprisinga hollow buoyant hull 9 havingreinforcementflutes 10 located in upper surface of hullv 9 and foot well11 containing flexible self-adjusting shoe 12. Fluted grooves 13 locatedin lower surfaceof hull 9, parallel to longitudinal axis of hull 9, areadapted to provide reduction of surface for friction against waterduring high speed skiing, and at the same time are adapted to permit airto enter grooves 13, as ski is moved forward, thereby providing apartial air cushion between the hull 9 and surface of the water in orderto cut down on surface friction. I

A hingeably attached flap 14 is located transversely of the longitudinalaxis of hull 9, substantially toward the rear end 15- of hull 9.

Referring to FIG. 5 a cross-section illustrating the relation betweenhull 9 and flexible self-adjusting shoe 12, located in well 11, isshown, the bottom surface of well 11 being concave as at 16, the lowersurface 17 of shoe 12 being flat in its unstressed position.

Upon a foot being inserted into shoe '12, the heel and ball of the footresting on sole 18 will force centre portion of sole 18 down intoconcave base of well 11 thereby causing sides 19 of shoe 12 to flexinwards towards the foot of the skier thereby adapting itself to thesides of the foot independently of whether this be somewhat smaller thanthe size of the shoe.

Upon the skier Wishing to free himself from the shoe, he requires onlyto retract his foot from the shoe, whereby pressure acting on sole 1 8is relieved, permitting sides 19 to flex outwards and thereby free thefoot automatically.

Referring to FIG. 6 a section through the hull 9 of the water ski isshown illustrating one way of locating flutes 13 in base of hull 9, thehigh speed friction surface, during high speed skiing, being reduced tothe flat surfaces 20.

Referring to FIG. 7, arrangement of the hingeable flap 14 toward the end15 of hull 9 is shown, flap 14 being adapted to move hingeably towardsthe rear, to a substantially horizontal position as shown by stipledline 21, whereas flap 14 is restricted in its forward movement, throughstop portion 22 acting on end 23 on flap 14.

It will be appreciated that air trapped within flutes 13, during highspeed forward motion of water skis, will have a directional actionsomewhat similar to a protruding keel, thereby tending to stabilize themotion of the water skis, at the same time providing lower friction,since friction at the flutes will be between the hull and air, insteadof the hull and water.

It will also be understood that any quantity of flutes may be located inthe lower surface of each ski, according to the size of the ski and theweight that each ski must support. Skis-may be made in varying sizesaccording to the weight of the skier, and the general design of the skisembodying this invention may be varied within the scope of thisinvention without prejudicing the novelty thereof.

The flexible self-adjusting shoe shown in FIG. 5 may be removablyattached within well 111 through bead-like projections 24 engaging ingrooves 25 located around the lower end of well 111, and ventilatingmeans 26 may be Patentedv Jan. 9, 1962 supplied in base portion 1-8 ofshoe 12, to ventilate concave portion 16 of well 11 during flexing ofbase 18.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property andprivilege is claimed are defined as follows.

I claim:

1. A pair of identical water skis, each of said pair of water skiscomprising a buoyant hull of substantially longitudinal pontoon-shapedconfiguration, a foot well located within the upper surface of said hullsubstantially centrally of the longitudinal axis of said hull, thebottom of said foot well being substantially concave and foot hold meansremovably located within said foot well, said foot hold means having theconfiguration of a loose fitting shoe having a flexible sole portion,the central longitudinal portion of said sole portion being adapted toflex downwards into said concave base of said foot well upon a footbeing applied to said sole portion, said foothold means having flexiblesides adapted to flex towards a foot located in said foot hold meansupon a foot biasing said sole portion into said concave bottom of saidfoot well.

2. A pair of water skis as claimed in claim 1 in which said sole of saidfoot hold means is adapted to be sufiiciently elastic to automaticallybias said sole toward a substantially flat plane upon said sole beingreleased from weight of said foot, said sides of said foot hold meansthereby being adapted to release grip on said foot to permit extractionthereof from said foot hold means.

3. A pair of water shoes as claimed in claim 1 in which said flexiblesole of said foot hold means is supplied with ventilating means betweenthe lower and upper surface of said sole.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,714,352 Echola' May 21, 1929 1,719,059 Krupka July 2, 1929 2,020,792Maynard NOV. 12, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS 38,685 Germany Feb. 23, 1 887

